Danica Patrick is returning to the Nationwide Series at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for Saturday’s New England 200, her fourth career start in NASCAR competition.
Patrick made her NASCAR Nationwide Series debut at Daytona in February after finishing sixth in the ARCA race on the 2.5-mile superspeedway. Crashing the No. 7 Go Daddy Chevrolet out of the race at Daytona, Patrick went on to post finishes of 31st at California and 36th at Las Vegas.
In a sport that continues to grow, auto racing also has seen an increase in female drivers. But the sport has yet to see a woman break into the top-tier NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on a regular basis.
While Danica Patrick, perhaps the most well-known of the female drivers, has run in three Nationwide Series this year — at Daytona, Fontana, Calif., and Las Vegas — most women are making their mark in the IndyCar Series and the National Hot Rod Association. That could be about to change.Read More
This week’s FRN FollowFriday is going to the only lady driving a full time schedule in the NASCAR ’s Camping World Truck Series. Jennifer Jo Cobb runs her own clothing company Driver Boutique that her truck is sponsored by.
So make sure to follow @JenJoCobb to stay up to date with the Camping World Truck Series and all her appearances.
Brooklyn, Mich. (June 11, 2010) –Jennifer Jo Cobb’s performance at Michigan International Speedway showed how far her No. 10 Driven team has come this season. Cobb had one of her most competitive showings to date at the wide, sweeping, two-mile oval. She piloted her Ford F-150 to complete 99 of the 100 laps, all the while, earning respect from her NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competitors. Although she has achieved better results this season, her performance en route to a 21
“It felt so good to pass so many trucks in the turns,” said Cobb. “I was more aggressive and our Crew Chief, Steve, had our new truck, Jimi, dialed in just right. If we had a bit more horsepower we would have had a record day.”Read More
STAFFORD —Carla Botticello vividly remembers the first time a female won a feature race at Stafford Motor Speedway, and not because she was trackside to see it, but rather for the fact she wasn’t there.
Botticello was 13 and at a 4H summer camp in Hebron when she heard her sister Stacey won the DARE Stock race at Stafford on Aug. 6, 1999, becoming the first female winner in track history.
“I remember being so upset because I missed her first win,” Botticello said. “But I kind of figured it wouldn’t be her last.”
It was far from her last. And the victory helped to kick open the door for women regularly at Stafford Motor Speedway.
Four women, the most ever, will be in the starting lineup for today’s 94th Indianapolis 500. Danica Patrick, who will make her sixth Indy 500 start, has become the face of female racing since she splashed onto the national scene in 2005. But well before Patrick, Stafford Motor Speedway had already set the stage as a trend-setting facility for females
Women have been competing regularly, and winning, for more than a decade at Stafford. This year eight female drivers compete full time in four of the five divisions at Stafford. Read More
Jeff Gordon, a four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, was taken to the wood shed in his own charity go-kart race by blond, blue-eyed, 15-year-old, up-and-coming female racer Jessica Dana.
Lakeport Speedway has the most competitive female drivers around. Last Saturday night we saw the top three Junior Jammer drivers, all female, competing for the win in their feature event. Caity Miller’s #55 led 29 of 30 laps, when on the last lap her car stalled; Kayleigh Sullivan #24 quickly got around Miller with under a lap to go and made it 2 feature wins in a row for her. Hayley Bishop Finished 2nd for her 3rd race in a row, giving her the points lead for the Junior Jammer division. These young ladies show up to win, and they do. Even the starter is a female, Kelley Coburn has been waving the flags at Lakeport Speedway for 3 years now, and she has been a part of doing whatever is required to get the show in. Coburn’s daughter, Melissa, is following in her footsteps and is a big part of Lakeport Speedway, from taking the infield photos, to working in the tower getting the cars lined up.
Indy Racing League Q & A: IZOD IndyCar Series driver Danica Patrick participated in a Q&A session. Here are a few quotes from the interview.
Danica Patrick
28-year-old native of Roscoe, Ill competing in her sixth season in the IZOD IndyCar Series in 2010.
Drives No. 7 Team GoDaddy.com car for Andretti Autosport.
Currently 16th in IZOD IndyCar Series point standings.
Has qualified in the top-10 in every Indianapolis 500 start and finished in the top-10 in four of her five starts.
First female driver to lead the Indianapolis 500 when she led 19 laps as a rookie in 2005.
Q. Tomorrow starts the month of May, the shortened month of May. Can you talk a little bit about the compressed schedule. Do you feel more pressure to get up to speed?
DANICA PATRICK: Well, yeah, it’s kind of hard to almost call it a month of May because it’s not. It’s like half of a month.Read More
A large group of drivers were on hand at Wilmot Raceway in Wilmot, WI for the 2010 season opening test session. Amongst them was 44 time racing champion, Jessica Brannam. Like the rest, she was there to shake off the rust from a long off season and to prepare her car for the up coming season.
Unfortunately, racers in the Midwest have to wait out a long winter off season before they get a chance to hit the race track and start a new season of racing. None is more eager to get back at it than Brannam. She immediately showed her enthusiasm by setting the time to beat in the first round of practice. Read More
